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There is something so sad about an abandoned blog. I check the ol’ Digestive Librarians’ Digest blog every once in a while, to see what other food lovin’ librarians are writing about…… and nothing. Over two months and no new blog posts: I don’t want this blog to die!

As a winner of a box full of goodness, I should have plenty of material to write about, right? And it’s coming… slowly… but here is the truth: blogging is hard. I’ve had a personal blog for almost five years now, and I don’t get very much traffic at all. Small audience, very little feedback; it feels like I’m rambling/screaming into the void.

It takes time to write, and even more time to write well, and then with the uploading and adjusting of photographs… I’d rather be cooking, or eating, or, after a day of librarianing, I’d much rather just watch TV and not have to use my brain for a while.

But I like the idea of blogs, I like the idea of this blog in particular, and I will not let the sucker die.

Behold, more than a month after the fact – an obligatory Christmas meal post!

My spouse person and I have been very lucky for quite a few years: we have been too poor and too far away to go to either set of parents for Christmas. Mine live in Edmonton, Alberta; his live on Salt Spring Island, B.C. We lived in Montreal for a good five years, and that was five years of developing new traditions – or piggybacking onto friends’ traditions. We became obligatory family friends at Christmas dinners, which has it’s own set of challenges. If I had my druthers, I would be very quiet on Christmas Day, spending it in the company of chocolate, inebriants, and a pile of DVDs, speaking to no one, and pretending that no one else existed.

But I don’t have my druthers, I have family members who think tradition is really important, and it’s just a day, right? Christmas = Compromise.

Here is how I spent my Christmas 2010.

It started with a ferry ride; the people pictured here are family members and I believe the expressions captured here say everything there is to say about obligatory family traditions:

Of course, all this Christmas fuss started because of that guy, so sure, let’s give him thanks:

For breakfast there was bubble bread and grapefruit and other things:

I did not participate in any of the food making. But my mother-in-law and two of my sisters-in-law did – maybe my father-in-law, too? But definitely the ladies. Talented ladies. Susan made this deliciously tart and tangy cold cranberry soup that started off the Weston Christmas Dinner 2010 Extravaganza:

And of course there were vegetables:

More cranberry goodness:

Somehow, everything mashed together on a plate doesn’t look as appealing as when each dish is separated – but it was still delicious:

A massive turkey:

And two desserts. A trifle – which was 100% totally delicious:

I didn’t have any of this flaming Christmas pudding.

This particular pudding was mildly controversial. You see, there was a newly pregnant lady in the midst of all this Christmas hoopla (not me), and there was massive discussion surrounding the brandy that goes into the pudding. I was very grateful that I was at work and not helping with food prep for Christmas, because apparently there was quite the emotional dither-dather over the amount of brandy in the pudding. (The pregnant lady was also not around when the pudding was being made.)

I think it would have been a much less pleasant Christmas had I been there for the food prep because

A tablespoon or two of brandy in a Christmas pudding is NOT going to cause the child to suffer from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. And I would have made a big stink about being overly cautious. My eye rolls would have ruined Christmas!

I knew the pregnant lady wouldn’t be having any of the Christmas pudding anyway … she doesn’t even like it.

In fact, there are quite a few traditional dishes that various family members don’t actually like, but there seems to be a lack of communication amongst the family members regarding said dishes. Lots of “if I say I don’t like this, feelings will be hurt” which is maddening, but oh-so-true.

Next year, it’s my mom’s turn to stress out about making a bunch of dishes that are only made once a year; the plan is to head to Edmonton. I don’t think that preparing Christmas dinner is worth the stress that it seems to bring to so many people – but then I’ve also heard that Christmas dinner is a really wonderful experience for so many. Of course, I also used to believe that Santa was real, so…… maybe the joyful Christmas dinner is also a myth?